I provide commentary on political economy, police and prosecutorial abuse, and whatever else might come to mind.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 (ESV)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Larger Perspective on False Accusations: The "Ruling Class" Speaks

Anyone who follows the false accusation industry, be it false accusations for "child molestation" or for "rape" should be struck by what seems to be a disconnect. On the one hand, scientific analysis is as sophisticated as it ever has been, and DNA and forensic science certainly falls into the "sophisticated" category. Likewise, we are as knowledgeable in psychology as we ever have been and have advanced techniques for being able to understand the nature of interviews and whether or not they are producing false information.

Yet, at the same time, false accusations abound, and I mean abound. Look at the websites in which law firms and investigative agencies that abound on the Internet that deal in NOTHING but false accusations. It seems that no one has stepped back and asked what I think should be a simple question: Why are so many people falsely accused of "sex" crimes at a time when we should be able to ascertain between true and false charges?

During the Tonya Craft trial, I must admit I was dumbstruck by the absolute ignorance, coupled with arrogance, of the prosecutors, "Alberto-Facebook" and "The Man," "Det." Tim "Dirty" Deal, and the so-called expert witnesses from the Children's Advocacy Center. After the trial, Ione Sells, the director of the CAC in Fort Oglethorpe, assured me that Dr. Nancy Aldridge and Dr. William Bernet were liars and charlatans, despite the fact that Sells is a nobody in this field and Bernet and Aldridge literally "wrote the book" on this kind of forensic interviewing.

This is not just stupidity, although I am ready to agree that Sells, the LMJC personnel in general, and the others at the CAC are not the brightest bulbs on the planet. Nonetheless, I have to say that it is more than just sheer stupidity and arrogance, given that CACs around the country are just as likely to encourage prosecutors to pursue false child molestation accusations, just as rogue Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners like Tara Levicy of the infamous Duke Lacrosse Case are ready to claim that certain women have been "raped" when, in fact, it is clear that no rape occurred.

No, there is a much larger aspect to this sorry tale, and it does not just involve stupidity and arrogance, although I will be the first to say that Deal, Arnt, Gregor, and Sells are both stupid and arrogant. However, they are stupid and arrogant people armed with the most fearsome weapons of all: the weapons of state power, and it is there that we begin.

Robert Higgs, one of my favorite economists and a chronicler of the present age who is on a level with H.L. Mencken, in my view, recently had an article in which he feted an essay by Angelo M. Codevilla, an emeritus professor of International Relations at Boston University, on what he calls "America's Ruling Class."

The essay itself is excellent and worth the read (and it is long), although I don't agree with all of what Prof. Codevilla writes, nonetheless I believe a lot of it is very accurate. In his description of the essay, Prof. Higgs writes:

Codevilla cuts immediately to the core: the United States today is divided into (a) a ruling class, which dominates the government at every level, the schools and universities, the mainstream media, Hollywood, and a great deal else, and (b) all of the rest of us, a heterogeneous agglomeration that Codevilla dubs the country class. The ruling class holds the lion’s share of the institutional power, but the country class encompasses perhaps two-thirds of the people.

Members of the two classes do not like one another. In particular, the ruling class views the rest of the population as composed of ignoramuses who are vicious, violent, racist, religious, irrational, unscientific, backward, generally ill-behaved, and incapable of living well without constant, detailed direction by our betters; and it views itself as perfectly qualified and entitled to pound us into better shape by the generous application of laws, taxes, subsidies, regulations, and unceasing declarations of its dedication to bringing the country—and indeed the entire world—out of its present darkness and into the light of the Brave New World it is busily engineering.

This class divide has little to do with rich versus poor or Democrat versus Republican. At its core, it has to do with the division between, on the one hand, those whose attitudes are attuned to the views endorsed by the ruling class (especially “political correctness”) and whose fortunes are linked directly or indirectly with government programs and, on the other hand, those whose outlooks and interests derive from and focus on private affairs, especially the traditional family, religion, and genuine private enterprise. Above all, as Codevilla makes plain, “for our ruling class, identity always trumps.” These people know they are superior in every way, and they are not shy about letting us know that they are. Arrogance might as well be their middle name.

What does this have to do with Tonya's case? Everything.

Think about the origins of the epidemic of false accusations of rape and child molestation: federal laws. The government requires state investigators to treat EVERY accusation, no matter how ridiculous or patently dishonest, as though it were true. Furthermore, Washington promises lots and lots of federal dollars to those state and local entities that prosecute these "crimes," and the promise of money alone is enough to drive false prosecutions.

But, as Prof. Codevilla's essay notes, there is much more. The modern "elites," whether they are prosecutors, part of non-profit organizations tied to government (like the CAC), or bureaucrats and politicians, have carved out privileges for themselves that do not apply to the rest of the Great Unwashed. While many of these "elites" pass themselves off as "experts" (and often are worshiped as such by the mainstream media), they are no more qualified to do their jobs than any person pulled off the streets.

Forget truth or even good science. Identity and protection by one's peers means everything; how else can men like Arnt and Gregor suborn perjury, yet be protected not only by "immunity" but also by all of the government agencies that are supposed to oversee them? Prof. Codevilla explains:

If, for example, you are Laurence Tribe in 1984, Harvard professor of law, leftist pillar of the establishment, you can "write" your magnum opus by using the products of your student assistant, Ron Klain. A decade later, after Klain admits to having written some parts of the book, and the other parts are found to be verbatim or paraphrases of a book published in 1974, you can claim (perhaps correctly) that your plagiarism was "inadvertent," and you can count on the Law School's dean, Elena Kagan, to appoint a committee including former and future Harvard president Derek Bok that issues a secret report that "closes" the incident. Incidentally, Kagan ends up a justice of the Supreme Court. Not one of these people did their jobs: the professor did not write the book himself, the assistant plagiarized instead of researching, the dean and the committee did not hold the professor accountable, and all ended up rewarded. By contrast, for example, learned papers and distinguished careers in climatology at MIT (Richard Lindzen) or UVA (S. Fred Singer) are not enough for their questions about "global warming" to be taken seriously. For our ruling class, identity always trumps.

This is not necessarily about political parties, although the Democratic Party clearly is the party of choice for most "elites." For example, Arnt, Gregor, and Deal are Republicans, and on his Facebook page, Deal claims to be "pro-life" and a "Christian," yet he is willing to take part in fabricating documents during the trial, which would violate all norms of Christianity.

Why would Deal and the others do these things? They do them because they can. They are part of a sheltered ruling class, and they cannot be bothered with the truth or even doing right. Instead, they make their own rules and are protected by the laws that their peers create so that they can be shielded from accountability no matter how outrageous their conduct.

The thing that motivates people like Deal, Arnt, and Gregor, along with Sells and her CAC underlings, is power. They enjoy wielding it and they especially enjoy the fact that they can do whatever they want and not pay legal consequences for it. Heck, for the most part, they ARE the law. Notice that none of these people, including "judge" Brian Outhouse, are exactly elites in the academic or social sense. However, as Prof. Codevilla notes, the "ruling class" is not comprised of people with superior skills or intelligence, just people who have the "right" identity.

If one wonders why the feds and the Georgia authorities have not intervened in this case despite the numerous violations of federal and state law, I believe that Prof. Codevilla and Prof. Higgs have the answer. Justice in modern America is not about justice at all; it is becoming one class of people engaging in warfare against another class.

16 comments:

Abraham
said...

I only followed the Sam Parker trial via shadows from the news reports. It was very interesting, and my gut feeling was that he was guilty.Yet I fully expected that he would be found innocent mainly because her body was never found.So fast forward to all the recent revelations about the LMJC and it's a bit less surprising that they still convicted him.I wonder what Sam Parker would have to say about the Tonya Craft story?

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Abraham, if you go back and research the news media about the Parker case, you'll find glaring contradictions when the search first started. Parker did have an alibi, one not allowed in the trial. The only alibi allowed turned off the conservative jury but I, as a female, have to say this. No matter how I was dressed or undressed, if I ever heard a man I was with make the statements he supposedly made that night, I would have run down the street screaming at the top of my lungs. There might be a few women dumb enough to hang around but I haven't seen any sign of it around here. Parker's case was marked with the same kind of publicity by the supposedly interested in justice crowd as Tonya Craft's case. The problem there was even after the gag order came down, someone was always willing to talk - all the while claiming they couldn't because of the judge's ruling. Parker was accused, tried, convicted, and incarcerated in his home because of his in-laws from the first day of the search. There are elements that never came to light which would have made for quite a bit of reasonable doubt, but her family with all their legal difficulties were made to look like saints.

With the popularity of teens and "sexting", how long before innocent people are convicted of possessing child porn simply because a teenage girl sent a nude photo to their cell phone by mistake or purposefully to impress a boy? What to do? Just by having that picture you are now guilty of having child porn.

As many of you know, I am a Forensic Nurse. I deal primarily with adults but do, sadly, deal with children on occasion.

What the Tonya Craft case did for me was to make me finally understand that the reason this happened was simple. It was not for revenge, although that was there, it was not for twisted small town princesses and their entourages. It actually was simply about money.

The United States Federal Government has put a price tag on the what a child's life is worth. That particular law brings MILLIONS each year into each state. It does not even matter if the accusation is false, all that matters is that CPS be involved.

We have devised a system whereby each accusation is worth a dollar figure. Each prosecution is worth a dollar figure and each child taken is worth a dollar figure.

Arnt was wrong, he is indeed paid by the child molester even if they are innocent.

Kerwyn, your statement saddens me. Not because I object to it but because it's too true. Everything in this world now has a dollar amount attached to it and that humans are involved makes us seem like slaves to the federal government's interference. The Commerce Act and all the ensuing laws to 'protect' children have done nothing more than make us prisoners without the option of telling these people to leave us alone in our homes, a violation of our constitutional rights. While none of this is new, the slow degradation of our rights by the government we stupidly let get this far out of control has to be stopped. Unfortunately, we first have to change the mindset that children don't lie. That'll take parents standing up and telling those fools they need to spend many, many days with children and tell them no instead of yes. Then we have to clean house, from the president to the lowliest dog catcher, in order to start anew, but with our eyes open and a more vocal stand on what makes the law in our land.

Ever since the Tonya Craft fiasco was uncovered, I wondered if anyone would see the glaring similarities to the Parker trial. He was believed to be guilty and the fact that there was no evidence did not matter. He was not a likable person and I guess that is suppposed to justify the conviction.He may be guilty of murdering his wife, but the state didn't come close to proving their case.

Walker County may have 10-12 people arrested for child sex crimes every week but it's not reflected in the arrest reports the sheriff's office posts in the Messenger every two weeks. Sad. We might have seen the trend long ago if that had been the case.Anon 11:44 - I figured out from the day Sheriff Wilson said he spoke to Parker and told him to steer clear of the case how it would go, and suspected there was political manipulation to convict Parker from the beginning. What really burns me up is that Leigh Patterson got some kind of huge prosecutors award a couple of days ago for her successful prosecution of the case when she had absolutely nothing. Blood drops? A deputy out of touch for his entire shift the night she disappeared and with reason to do something believed because he said so? A former friend and colleague testifying to get out of his own charges and making up things as they went? Yeah. Right. Bull right from the beginning. There was almost no forensic evidence and what there was could be explained through normal life. She never complained of spousal abuse and yet her family claims she went through it. It did parallel Tonya Craft's case but in Parker's situation, he didn't have the resources to hire a good defense team. I'm wondering if Parker is sitting back in prison and putting together an appeal based on tainted evidence and perjury now. Like I said earlier, I don't know if he did kill her but there were others just as likely to do it who screamed and yelled. Too much was withheld from court that would have made the prosecution's case fly out the window.

I dont think there is parallel between Sam Parker and Tonya Craft. I know Tonya Craft was innocent. Sam Parker on the other hand had threatened Theresa and his previous wife. There was a call when Theresa was afraid he was going to kill her. He was jealous of her and he did threaten her when she told him she was leaving him. She had told many people that he had said he would kill her and no one would ever find her. All police officers know this to be true. Unless you tell another person that you did it and leave behind evidence it is hard to prove. He left a little. There was a 911 call in 2004 and it was handled like many domestics involving law inforcement, no charges were filed and the situation was difused.This is from the trial:

LAFAYETTE (WRCB) -- Testimony in the Parker murder trial Thursday focused on an emergency call to police that came in years before Theresa Parker disappeared.

A 9-1-1 dispatcher who worked with Theresa Parker say Theresa called for help in 2004. The dispatcher told the jury that Theresa told her over the phone that her husband, Sam Parker had hit her.

The responding deputy with the Walker County Sheriff's Department says Sam Parker was screaming and waving his arms when he arrived at the Parker home on Cordell Road... But that Theresa told a different story.

Bruce Coker says, " I noticed a red mark on the side of her neck and I asked if he had hit her and she said, no. He didn't hit me, I don't want him to go to jail."

Sam Parker did not go to jail that night. Bruce Coker told the jury the house was in mess and it appeared that Theresa's belongs had been tossed into the yard. Testimony continues tomorrow morning. It could be the middle of next week before the defense presents evidence.

That was only one incident, but there were others buried in other testimony where the deputies noticed mutual abuse. No one is a complete saint or sinner. Sam Parker is probably guilty of a lot of things, especially of being involved to some degree with the LMJC machine, but I believe there is far more to his wife's disappearance. Also, another point, his first wife testified reluctantly that he threatened her - and only after other factors in his life led to a possible untreated depression. Other than that, he was a good person during their marriage.But the connection to the LMJC machine and their malicious prosecutions is nebulous at best. No one brought it up at the trial, in fact they downplayed his importance to any important prosecutions - so much so, I can't help but wonder how involved he was with some prior LaFayette child abuse convictions.

I agree there are no saints and we're all sinners. In my opinion whenever there is a crime involving an estranged wifes disappearence the estranged husband is the prime suspect. Even without evidence of prior abuse. Crimes of passion are common even with no history of abuse. There marriage was over in Theresa Parkers mind and not in Sam Parkers mind. A short time prior to her disappearence she had called a family friend of ours and asked him to go the Smokey Mtns with her. She told him she had rented a cabin there and it was already paid for. He declined. There marriage was over and it was splitting up assets time. I think some men, especially controlling type Alpha males, lose it when a relationship ends, not on their terms. I had a close friend that murdered his wife and took his own life when faced with it and he wasnt violent and had never been abusive. I feel there is a point in most divorces when things can get ugly quick. I still dont see the correlation between Tonya Craft's case and Sam Parker's case. I believe the DAs office in the LMJC has set up a process to move "accused" child molestors quickly into a guilty verdict with the precision of an assembly line. All of this for profit. The other case is what I would expect if there is a murder of a person that is part of law enforcement by someone in law enforcement, especially in the LMJC. I respectfully disagree with you about this, I agree with everything else you have posted.

I also disagree with the comparison between Sam Parker & Tonya Craft. Sam was not & is not a good person. I know of many occasions where he was not a nice person. Abusive is the best word. I also know of one particular attempted railroading he was heavily involved in. I do agree that the prosecution didn't have the evidence to convict, but questioning his jury would be like the the prosecution questioning Tonya's jury. I believe he killed her. Yes there are holes, but that falls on Theresa not sticking to her guns & having him arrested on multiple occasions. The other thing I have a problem with is he was part of the small town, good ole boy network. In most situations, due to domestic violence laws, he would have been taken to jail that one particular evening even if Theresa said he didn't hit her. I have known women who were afraid for their lives against abusive husbands & most have turned out to be for good reason. They are now dead.

As I said, I am unsure if the prosecution's case was strong enough, but the jury did convict. There was also a lot of inculpatory evidence kept out, and you could almost call it a wash. I have a very close friend who worked with Sam for many years & was friends with him. He truly believes Sam is guilty. It's a hard pill to swallow to accept that a friend or relative is capable of committing murder, but it happens all the time. I believe the right man is in prison, but not a fan of the way he was convicted. It's a tough way to think, but I'm at peace with the jury's decision.

About Me

I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. We are located on the Allegheny Plateau, and we have cool summers and tough winters.
I am the single father of five children, four of them adopted from overseas and I have two grandchildren. My family and I are members of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA).